Who Is Reaching Out to Emma for Help?
I wouldn’t say that I associate ghosts with Christmas, despite how much I love Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. But “The Ghost of Christmas Granny” is the second time that Sue Ann Jaffarian has given us a shorter story with the characters from her Ghost of Granny Apples series, and she makes good use of the season.
If you aren’t familiar with the series, it is one of the few paranormal series I read. It features Emma Whitecastle, who discovered she is a medium when she met her first ghost, Granny Apples, her great-great-great-great grandmother. Together, the two of them have helped solve several cases, always with a ghostly element.
This short story opens with Emma receiving a cry for help in the middle of the night. She’s confused because it doesn’t appear to be coming from a ghost. It sounds like a young child. Can she figure out who is calling for her help?
Yes, that is a short and sweet teaser, but this is a short story, and I don’t want to give any more away than that. I will say, I appreciated how the story unfolded. There may not have been a ton of twists since it’s a short story, but the trail that Emma went down was logical. I was engaged the entire time I read it, wondering just how everything was going to work out. The climax had me turning pages as quickly as I could. And yes, Granny is an important part of the story, like always.
This is a good introduction if you haven’t met the characters yet. We get enough to understand the relationships, but it never slows things down. And, if you are already a fan, it’s wonderful to check in and see how everyone is doing.
With the setting being a couple of weeks before Christmas, there are some references to things that will put you in the Christmas spirit as you read, but they don’t overwhelm the story.
Overall, this took me a little over an hour to read. I can’t quite pin point exactly how long since I didn’t read it all in one sitting, but you easily could.
Fans who have been missing Emma, Granny, and the rest, will be happy with the visit we get in “The Ghost of Christmas Granny.” If you are looking for a quick story to put you in the Christmas spirit, this is one to get.
Enjoy the rest of the Ghost of Granny Apples Mysteries.
NOTE: I received a copy of this story.
I enjoy Jaffarian's Ghost of Granny Apples series - in fact I won my name as a character in one of them. I'll have to check out this one. Before I go, we're having a conversation about whether (and when) readers like novels over short stories, on our Writers in Residence blog. (posted by author Maggie King) What is your opinion? See - https://thewritersinresidence.com/2023/07/05/short-stories-the-reader/
ReplyDeleteThis series is on my TBR and this looks like a lot of fun!
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